On the Outside Looking In
by roblowe86
Summary: Jamie Houston is the new girl in Tulsa, Oklahoma; the East side, that is. She meets Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade, along with the rest of the greasers, who show her that sometimes in life, ya gotta be tough.
1. Cherry Cokes and Sunsets

Hello! This is my first Outsiders fan fiction. There might be some events mentioned that also happen in the book, so **full credit goes to S.E. Hinton** for those and for the wonderful characters she created. Now that that's out of the way, here we go!

* * *

Jamie's POV

I sat down on the rusted metal bench that was placed just outside of the corner store and took a long sip from my Coke. There's nothing like a cold Coke on a hot summer's day. Especially an Oklahoma summer's day.

I was the new girl in east side Tulsa and had only arrived two days before. My dad was an English teacher and often had to move around since there would always be some new, young, hotshot teacher with a higher level of education than he had who applied to whatever school he was at. He really wanted to go back to university and get his Masters degree so that we wouldn't have to move from state to state every couple of years. But unfortunately, we didn't have the money. You don't get paid very well when you're in the teaching business. He should've gone into medicine or some wild thing like that.

Several minutes after sitting down and taking several sips from my Coke, I spotted two boys walking down the middle of the street in my direction. I assumed they were just going to the corner store so I just looked out at the sunset.

"Hey Pony, there's a cute one for ya," I heard one of the boys say when they were only about ten yards away. The area was pretty quiet except for a few cars bustling by so I could hear much of their conversation.

The one who spoke had light brown skin and dark hair. He looked like he was around sixteen or seventeen, but pretty short for that age. His friend was an inch or two taller than he was and looked about the same age. His hair was bleached blonde and was slicked back with grease.

In all the other states I had lived in (which included Texas, Arizona, Kansas and my home state of Florida), the boys I knew from school were all horny jerks that were most of the time just looking for a girl to sleep with. The girls were just a classier version of that. I was a virgin and felt like I was the only one. I had only had one boyfriend in my whole life, and that one tried to do it with me in the backseat of his used 1950 Land Cruiser one night after we had seen some Steve McQueen flick (which of course he had chosen to watch). Naturally, I broke up with his ass. In all honesty, I wasn't even that interested. And yeah, that was pretty much my only relationship-related experience with any boy ever.

I never really had many friends, either. It wasn't because I wasn't friendly; I was very friendly and always eager to talk to someone. My father was very strict and only let me hang out with the smarter kids. "It's either them or you hang out alone," he had once said. I chose staying alone.

I decided to pretend that I didn't hear the boys comment and looked back on the sunset, the beautiful, orange sunset.

Ponyboy's POV

"Hey Pony, there's a cute one for ya," Johnny said, playfully elbowing me in my side. I looked in the direction that he was looking at and saw a girl sitting on a bench all alone.

I smiled and slightly blushed. Yeah, she was pretty cute. She was dressed a bit like a greaser girl, yet I had never seen her before.

"Why don't you go talk to her?"

I shook my head, and looked down at the pavement. "Naw, you go talk to her." It wasn't that I was too shy to talk to girls, it's just that she was so darn cute and I was scared of makin' a fool of myself.

"Well, alright." I was surprised that Johnny actually accepted my challenge. He was usually about just as shy around girls as I was.

The girl was staring out into the distance. I don't think she so much as glanced in our general direction since the moment Johnny pointed her out to me. She was sitting there so quietly, her hair pulled into a messy ponytail, one leg crossed over the other. She was wearing real short jean shorts and a black tank top along with black high top Chucks. If she was a greaser girl, she was definitely one of the classier ones, that was for sure.

"What kinda coke you drinkin'?" Dang it, Johnny. We finally meet a cute girl who's our type, and you comment on what she's drinkin'?

She looked right at Johnny and half smiled. "Cherry."

Johnny nodded. She kept on lookin' at him, doing that half-smile thing. It drove me mad. I wanted to talk to her, but I wasn't sure of what to say.

"Well, my name's Johnny, and this here is Ponyboy. We saw you sittin' here alone and thought we'd join ya."

The girl nodded. "Ponyboy, that's interesting." Yeah, people always commentin' on the originality of my name when they first hear it. "I'm Jamie."

"You new round here?" I actually spoke to the girl. To Jamie.

"Yeah, just moved here the other day. Straight outta Texas." She smiled widely at me. My heart skipped a beat.

"You don't have an accent." What a dumb thing to say, Ponyboy.

She chuckled. "I was born and raised in Tampa, Florida."

"You live on the East side now? Or are you just a soc posin' as a greaser girl sent to spy on us?"

Before Jamie could answer, and just as I was about to kick Johnny for askin' her that, a car pulled up right next to the sidewalk. We all shifted our gazes to it, but we didn't need to do so to know that that car was full of loud greasers. Actually to be precise, it was the rest of Johnny and me's gang.

* * *

So that was the first chapter! Wow, when I typed this on Word it seemed a lot longer lol. Once I really get it going I should be able to tell how long to make the chapters.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter :) I should be updating several times a week, so check back soon for chapter 2! Please review!


	2. Meetings

Hi again :) As I was reading reviews, I did realize that I made Johnny a bit different than what he is in the book. My intention was to make all the characters have the same personalities as they originally do, so I'm gonna try to make him like S.E. Hinton did. But that doesn't mean he won't have his moments ;)

Oh and I also forgot to mention that the whole story takes place about a month after the book, except no one who died is dead (i.e. Johnny, Dally).

**All credit of 'The Outsiders' goes to S.E. Hinton.**

* * *

Jamie's POV

The boys seemed pretty nice. I mean, they didn't act like some of the other dopes who would walk around town. The dark one, Johnny, sort of had an edge to him, but seemed timid at the same time. That really intrigued me. The blonde one, Ponyboy... well he was just about the cutest boy I had seen in years.

The boys and I were sort of just having a casual conversation when this big black T-Bird pulled up. There seemed to be a group of teenage boys in it, all shouting and laughing.

Once the car stopped, they all poured out of the vehicle, one of them drinking out of a glass bottle held in a little brown bag. I stood up and threw my empty Coke bottle into the trash that sat right outside of the corner store's entrance.

"Well, I better get going," I said quietly to the two boys. I didn't want to be there when that big gang was there. Who knows what could happen. "Guess I'll be seeing you two around?"

They both nodded simultaneously. I turned around to walk away, making sure not to look any of the newly arrived tough guys in the eye.

Before I could get more than five steps away from the scene, one of them called drunkenly at me. "Hey you! Hey girl! You Johnnycakes' new girlfriend?"

I turned around, figuring that ignoring them would probably cause more trouble than facing them. The one greaser with the beer bottle in his hand was laughing uncontrollably. His friends all just sort of stood in the background.

"Oooh, she's a nice one Johnny! You gonna take her home to meet your folks?"

"Hey, come on now Two-Bit. Leave Johnny alone," one of the other guys said. He had white-blond hair and was hunched over with his hands in his black jeans pockets.

I looked back at Johnny. His head hung low and he popped his jacket collar up. Then I noticed him looking at me out of the corner of his eyes. I quickly glanced away. My eyes met Ponyboy's, who was sitting on the metal bench.

Just as I was about to say goodbye to him, one of the other gang members spoke. "So, who's this?" He walked up to me and put his arm around my shoulders, standing very close. He was incredibly handsome, with dark brown eyes that were locked with mine. His hair was sort of a golden brown and he smelled a bit like gasoline. I wasn't sure whether to push him off or let him get as close as he wanted.

Sodapop's POV

"Now that Sandy's in Florida, we gotta get you a new broad!" Dally playfully slapped my back then lit a cigarette.

It was two months later. Two months after Sandy left for Florida to live with her grandparents. She had gotten pregnant, and the worst thing was that it wasn't mine. Anyway, her parents refused to let her marry me. Can you believe it? They forced her to move to Florida, where her grandparents were living. The whole two months later, my life was a complete disaster. I missed so much work from being depressed that my boss nearly fired me. For those two months, not once did I flirt with another girl. Let me tell ya, that was a miracle for a single guy of my nature. I was now finally pretty much over Sandy, realizing that she was really never gonna come back as long as her parents were still around. And now Dally wanted me to go out and meet some girl only to risk having my heart broken again?

"Ya don't have to start a serious relationship with one of them, Soda." It was like he read my mind. "Just for a little night of fun, ya know what I mean?" He sniggered and took a drag on his cigarette.

I sort of half-smiled and rolled my eyes. He was right; I hadn't properly talked to any girls since Sandy left and I sorely missed them. "Let's get outta here and pick up the rest of the gang, then."

We left the house, got into Dally's car and headed for the lot, where most of the boys hung out on Saturday nights, smoking and hitting on almost any girl that passed by.

"Get in greasers!" Dally yelled from the parked car at the other side of the lot. The only guys from our gang that were there were Two-Bit and Steve. Steve was my best friend, ever since we were in grade school. Speaking of school, I dropped out the year before so that I could help support Ponyboy. Darry, my older brother, was the main source of income as he worked two jobs but I felt better when I contributed. Also, I was sort of failing school. I was never good at it and didn't see the point in me continuing my education if I knew I'd never end up anywhere great. So I worked full time at the DX gas station, along with Steve, though he was still in school so he worked part time. He was very intelligent, but sort of in a general intelligence sort of way, if ya know what I mean.

Two-Bit was the joker of the gang. He was always making jokes and tried not to take life too seriously most of the time. He stole a lot, but he really was a great guy at heart.

The two guys hopped in the car, and then we drove off.

"Want a sip o' beer, Dal?" Two-Bit offered, holding the bottle to the side of Dallas' face. He was already blatantly drunk, it was easy to tell.

Dally grabbed the bottle and took a quick swig, then passed the bottle back to Two-Bit. Nobody bothered offering me some cause they know I don't drink. I ain't ever touched a drop of alcohol in over three years, and that one time I did was by accident.

"You really shouldn't drink and drive, Dal," I told him calmly. I was being brave; you normally shouldn't tell Dally what he should and should not do.

He rolled his eyes. "A sip o' beer never hurt nobody."

"Hey, it's Pony and Johnny, at the corner store! Let's go scare 'em," Steve said, always in the mood for pissing someone off.

Dally drove up to the curb. Two-Bit started yelling and making a whole scene, which was normal even when he wasn't intoxicated, and the rest of us joined in just for laughs.

We all jumped out of the car, and headed over to Pony and Johnny. They were with some girl who was sitting on the bench just outside the corner store. She was pretty nice looking, if ya ask me.

Once she got a good look at Dally, Two-Bit, Steve and me, she said something to my brother Pony and our friend Johnny. She started to walk away when Two-Bit yelled after her, calling her Johnny's girlfriend or something silly like that. He then went on, mentioning Johnny's parents. I wanted to yell at Two-Bit to stop it. Johnny's folks were drunks and never paid too much attention to Johnny. Normally old Keith "Two-Bit" Mathews wouldn't bring up that subject, but like I said, he was completely hammered.

Johnny sort of ignored his comment, and Dally finally told Two-Bit to shut it. He was probably the toughest hood in our group of greasers and could tell anyone anything he wanted, no problem.

"So, who's this?" Once Two-Bit calmed down a bit, I figured I might as well see who that new pretty girl was. I walked over to her and threw my left arm around her shoulders. Golly, I think I saw her blush a bit. Her bluish-grey eyes stared straight into my dark brown ones. For some odd reason which I could never figure out, she reminded me so much of Sandy.

"This is Jamie," Ponyboy said from the bench he was slouching on.

"Jamie, huh? You got last name, Jamie?" My arm was still placed around her.

"Sure I do. It's Houston." Her voice was soft, very feminine but not girly.

"Well hello, Jamie Houston. My name's Sodapop Curtis. I'm Pony's brother." I pulled my arm away then lit a cigarette. Without saying anything, I offered her one. She told me that she didn't smoke, that her uncle died of lung cancer or something.

Two-Bit drunkenly walked over to Jamie and curtsied. He then attempted to kiss her on the cheek but she pushed him away. "Slow down there buddy," she said, giggling a bit. She was pretty friendly for a girl who just met a group of greasers. Most other girls would be too frightened to say much to a big gang of tough guys, too scared that we would jump them or something.

Dally, who was sitting on the hood of his car, threw his right arm up. "I would be Dallas."

Steve walked over and shook her hand sharply. "Steve Randle." He quickly spun around on his heels. "Now can we get the hell outta here?"

Dally jumped off the hood and nodded. "Yeah, there's a town fulla hot broads out there waitin' for us!"

I turned to Pony. "Don't get home too late, Pone. See ya later." Then I turned to Jamie and waved. "See ya 'round, Jamie." I winked at her and ran off to Dally's T-Bird, where the rest of the guys were already all sitting in.

When we were driving off, I looked back at Johnny and Pony who were walking away from Jamie. Pony was waving at her and Johnny wasn't even facing her. He must've still been a bit hurt from Two-Bit's comment made earlier. Ah, sensitive Johnny...

* * *

So there's the second chapter :) Thanks for reading and feel free to review along with any suggestions you may have on how I can improve the story, I really appreciate it!


	3. Parents

**All credit of 'The Outsiders' goes to S.E. Hinton.**

* * *

Ponyboy's POV

Last night, after the gang rode off to the Dingo in Dally's T-Bird, and Johnny and I said goodbye to Jamie, we both walked over to the park and lied down on the grass, staring up at the stars. I loved it when Johnny and I did things like this. Other than Soda, he was the only other greaser that truly understood me.

"Hey Pony, you ever think of your parents?"

My parents died in a car crash a few years before. No one in the gang really talked about the accident much only until almost a year later. My parents were always welcoming to the rest of the gang and got along with all of them, so it really hit everyone hard.

I closed my eyes. It was getting pretty cold, not to mention late. My curfew was at 11:00, and I had guessed that it was probably around that time. Honestly, I wasn't really thinking about Johnny's question; I was pretty much only wondering how to get home in time without Darry yelling at me for staying out too long without letting him know where I was.

"Ponyboy?"

"Oh, uh..." I pondered for a moment. Did I ever think about my parents? My dead, long gone parents?

"I think of 'em sometimes. But I try not to do it too much, 'specially in front of the guys. I might cry or somethin'."

Johnny snorted. "Wouldn't want that happenin', would ya?"

"I mostly think of 'em right before goin' to bed," I went on a minute or two later. From the corner of my eye, I saw Johnny turn his head to me. "And of course when Soda and I are wrestlin' and I unintentionally look him right in the eyes. It's like I'm lookin' at mom. It's little moments like those that make the memories creep up on me." Normally at this point I would've tried to stop the tears from coming, but it was alright to cry in front of Johnny. He was my best friend.

After I let most of my tears out, I turned to him. His eyes were closed and he was breathing heavily.

"Sometimes... sometimes I wish my own folks were dead. Then I wouldn't have to worry 'bout them fightin' and drinkin' all the damn time." Johnny's parents were drunks and were just plain terrible not only to each other, but to him too. They didn't even care for Johnny. At least if they did, they sure didn't show it. Johnny wasn't exaggerating when he said he wished his parents were dead. I knew he wasn't.

"If they were dead, I'd be thrown in a boys' home. I'm sure the ones they got out there are a million times better than the crummy house I'm livin' in now. Golly, Pony, I'm barely even livin' at all." His voice cracked.

I sat up, and he did the same. I hugged him, while we were still sitting on the grass. Telling him it would all get better eventually would be an easy move, but this wasn't no sappy film. Being a greaser wasn't easy and the future was almost always unpredictable.

"You should be gettin' home before Darry freaks out," he said, pulling away.

"You wanna sleep over?" Johnny had slept over at our house for the past 3 nights; asking him to was starting to be pretty useless.

"I don't know, I ain't really been home in days. But then again, the folks can worry 'bout me all they want. Thanks Pony."

So Johnny and I walked back to my place. When we got home, Darry was sitting in the living room reading the newspaper. That was just about the only thing he ever read. Darry hated books and didn't understand how I liked reading so much. He hated it as much as he hated movies and television. Darry was the oldest out of us three Curtis boys. He was only 20 years old, but looked much older. He was pretty popular in school. Actually, he was voted Boy of the Year in high school. Since our parents died, my brother Darrel acted a lot like a father to me. It was probably better that way.

"Stayin' over again, Johnny?" Darry asked while folding the newspaper and setting it down on the little table next to the old armchair he was sitting in.

Johnny nodded and sat down on the couch. "My folks been fightin' a lot more than usual lately. I just can't stand bein' home no more."

"Well you know you're always welcome here, Johnny. Just don't make it too much of a habit. I don't want your parents comin' in here and yellin' at me for kidnappin' ya or anything like that," Darry said with a smile. He was real nice to Johnny. I mean, everyone in the gang was, especially since he already had it hard at home and everything, but Darry was always particularly nice to Johnny. Not in the way Dally was nice to him though. It was sort of hard to explain Darry and Johnny's relationship.

I looked at the clock that hung on the wall. It was 11:08; eight minutes after curfew. Thank God Darry hadn't noticed. If he did, he would've went on about me being out too late. Eight minutes would be a big deal to him.

He noticed me glancing at it and stood up with an overconfident grin. "Now don't you think I didn't take note of your tardiness, Ponyboy." Dammit. "You should be gettin' off to bed."

I rolled my eyes. I was fourteen years old and I still had to be _told_ when to go to bed. What a life.

"Goodnight Johnnycake," I said, walking over to him and messing his dark hair up. He slapped my hand away.

"Night."

I headed over to Soda and me's room and jumped in the bed. Yeah, we shared a room, _shared a bed_, ever since our parents died since I was having terrible nightmares. Darry got mom and dad's old room. I don't know how he can sleep in there every night. I feel like crying every time I even walk by. It's just all those memories again; jumping in their bed and waking them up on a Saturday morning along with Darry and Soda when we were kids, for example. It hurts when I think about how moments similar to those will never happen again. We'll never be a full, complete family again. Two people will always be missing.

* * *

A bit shorter than the last chapter. I know it might seem like it's dragging on a bit, but it'll pick up in the next couple of chapters :) Thanks for reading and for the reviews!


	4. Fights

**All credit of 'The Outsiders' goes to S.E. Hinton.**

* * *

Jamie's POV

"Jamie dear, would you pass the orange juice please?" It was breakfast the next morning and my mother had prepared bacon and eggs for my father and me.

I stretched my arm out with the carton of orange juice in my hand, handing it over to my father who had just asked for it. I stuffed in a mouthful of eggs. My mother's eggs were the best in the whole nation, there was no doubt about it.

"Any new friends yet?" My mother asked me, setting a plate on the table for herself.

I shrugged and once I was done chewing said, "I met these two boys yesterday evening when I was out. They seemed pretty nice. They're part of some greaser gang."

My father dropped his fork on his plate and sighed. He put his elbow straight up on the table and stared right at me with a disapproving look. I should have known better than to bring up the word 'greaser' when my father was around.

"You better stay away from those boys, Jamie. I mean it. It's enough that you're starting to dress like one of those damn greaser girls, with your short shorts and your low-cut tops. Hang out with them and you'll get yourself into some big trouble." Jeez dad, all I said was that they were nice to me. Wasn't like I said I wanted to marry one of them.

I looked at my mother, who was silently chewing and staring down at her plate. She would often act this way when my father got mad. She was a little bit more accepting of those who were different from her, but was too scared to go against what my dad often said.

My eyes shifted back to my father who was still staring at me. Couldn't he just loosen up a little?

"These greaser kids, they're all over the country. They hang out in gangs. Back in Texas, I taught a class with about four of 'em in it. Worst year of my life. Throwing paper airplanes, sleeping in class, hitting on the other girls in inappropriate manners... They have no positive future."

I set my fork down on my own plate. "Dad, these two boys were really kind to me when I spoke to them. I'm never gonna make any new friends if you're always judging the ones I actually like." My voice cracked.

"Jamie Judith Houston. You will not speak to me that way." His voice got louder and sterner.

"Robert, she seems to like these boys. Why don't you just-"

"Elaine, shut your trap! She is not to hang out with those boys. Those greasers are nothing but bad news no matter what state or town they live in!"

I stared at him for a moment, deeply frustrated. How dare he speak to my mother that way? How dare he judge Ponyboy and Johnny, whom he had never even laid eyes on! I barely even knew Johnny and Ponyboy yet I was feeling very defensive of them. I had read newspaper articles about greasers many times in the past, and I understood how hard it was for them to live when there were people like my father around. My family wasn't rich, but my old man definitely acted like he was superior to many.

When I felt that I made my point, I pushed myself out of the chair and ran out of the kitchen.

"Shit, not again!" I heard my father yell.

I kept on running, running out of the house. I ran out on my strict father, and my mother who was too scared to voice her opinion to her own husband. No, not for one second did I feel I was overreacting about the whole situation. My father was manipulative, mean, and didn't let me live the way most sixteen year old girls want to. He acted similar with my mom. He wasn't a bad person. He just had bad motives.

I walked down the sidewalk, my legs moving fast, keeping my head down and my hands in my sweater pockets. It was a clear, sunny morning in late June. I decided to take yet another walk around town, this time going a bit further into the east side, seeing what else there was in the city of Tulsa. I had to clear my mind and get away from my father. I wasn't sure if this was a runaway or just a temporary leave for a night or two. All I knew was that I was sick of my father and the way he treated my mother and me.

He started this behaviour when we were back in Arizona. That was around two years before we moved to Texas, and about five or six years before we moved to Tulsa. He became an alcoholic, and even if I was too young to fully understand, it hurt me terribly when he would come home from work and do nothing but drink whiskey and yell at my mother and me for five hours straight. I can't go into detail about all the horrid things he had done to my mother - all those memories are way too haunting. He wasn't necessarily an alcoholic anymore but he did have a violent drink every once in a while.

As I was walking on the sidewalk, a crazy thought popped into my head that maybe I should've grabbed my mother with me as I ran out. I knew how strong she was being, and how much she wanted to leave my father sometimes. But you must at least have an idea about how hard it is for a woman to leave her abusive husband.

Ever since I got home the night before, the only person I could think about was Ponyboy. He was so nice looking, and I don't even think he knew it himself. He seemed so kind and gentle, especially for a greaser. I got butterflies in my stomach when he talked to me. I got such a nice, warm feeling too. Man, was I getting a crush on Ponyboy?

Back to walking on the sidewalk: I didn't even know where the hell I was going. I was strolling past houses and parks and children playing in the street for about ten minutes. I was walking slower than I was when I first started, but I was still just as angry.

Ponyboy's POV

The next morning, the day after Johnny and I spent a couple of hours at the park at night, it was only Darry, Two-Bit and me at the house. Two-Bit wanted to show off to Soda the new blade he had stolen just a day or two before, so he showed up early before my brother left for work at the DX.

"Hey look, Mickey's on!" Two-Bit ran right in between Darry and me, while we were talking, and threw himself on the floor in front of the TV. He was a sucker for Mickey Mouse.

Darry glared at him. "You know if you were a little bit more courteous sometimes..." he trailed off. He knew it was useless as Two-Bit wasn't even listening.

He turned back to me and pursed him lips.

"Look Darry, please just let me fight in the rumble tonight. I ain't ever been in a real one before. You used to be in 'em all the time when you were my age." Trying to convince my older brother to let me fight wasn't an easy task.

He sighed and looked away. "Yeah, well, I had much more muscle than you do. I was on the football team, for Chrissake. You get a little taste of it, and then you'll want to fight in every rumble. I just can't let ya Pony. If the cops ever come and you're hurt, they'll throw both you and Soda in a boys' home faster than you can even say 'rumble.'"

I sighed, shoved my hands in my front pockets and hung my head low. It was no use trying to convince Darry.

"Oh come on, Darry. Let the kid fight if he wants to fight," Two-Bit broke in, still lying on the floor with his back against the couch and his eyes glued to the TV.

"So now you decide to listen to me?" Darry walked over to him and threw a couch pillow at his head. Two-Bit in turn used it as a cushion under his butt. My brother sat in his favorite grey armchair and rubbed his forehead. "Alright, fine," he finally said.

Two-Bit and I smiled in unison.

"All right, Darry!" Two-Bit yelled, throwing his fists up in the air.

"But," Darry said loudly, "don't get cocky and take on any big guys. And if the rules ever change from now on to tonight and weapons are allowed, you are out. Understand me?" He pointed his index finger at me.

I quickly nodded and hurried for the front door. "I'm goin' to the DX to see Soda for a bit. Y'all need anythin'?"

"Pick me up a pack o' smokes will ya, Pony?" Two-Bit asked, poking his head up.

"Nothin' for me," Darry said as he picked up the newspaper he was reading the night before.

I then headed out and lit a cigarette as I walked through the front yard.

"Ponyboy?"

My gaze immediately went towards the voice that was calling me. It was Jamie. She was coming up the sidewalk.

"Uh, hey Jamie. What-what are you doin' here?" I figured that I might as well make conversation; she seemed pretty eager to see me, smile on her face and all.

She shrugged and walked closer to me. We stood at the gate, only a foot or two apart from each other. Her eyes were beautiful; almost, if not just as nice as Soda's.

"Oh... I got into a little fight with my dad, so I figured I'd..." she paused. "I figured I'd just take a walk to cool off." She looked past me, at my house. "Hey, this your house?"

Turning my head around, I said, "Yup."

"Wow, I live just about ten minutes away."

I looked back at her, surprisingly grinning pretty wide. "That's neat."

"Yeah... yeah, it is pretty neat." Man, now we were both smiling like damn ditzes.

"So what are you doing now?" She asked as she leaned on the fence.

I was surprised how much Jamie actually wanted to talk to me and how she kept dragging the on the conversation. I didn't mind though. It was just that she hardly knew me; we had only met for the first time the night before.

I threw my cigarette in the grass and stepped on it with my right foot. "I was just goin' to the DX to see my brother, Soda."

She simply nodded. I didn't know if she was waiting for me to invite her or what, so I just went and did it anyway without thinking too much about it.

"Do ya wanna come with me?"

* * *

CLIFFHANGER!

I felt like I should go a bit more into Jamie's background, I just hope it wasn't thrown at you too quickly lol :) thanks for reading!


	5. Corvairs and Flirts

**All credit of 'The Outsiders' goes to S.E. Hinton.**

* * *

Ponyboy's POV

I liked Jamie. She was nice. She was different. She wasn't a soc, but she didn't fit the exact definition of a greaser either. She was pretty enough to be a soc. She had a very "west side" personality, too. I'm sure if Cherry Valance met Jamie Houston, she'd want to be best friends with her. If Randy Anderson struck up a conversation with her, he'd probably ask her for her number so they could go out.

On the walk over to the DX, I got to know Jamie pretty well. Her favorite thing to eat was hamburgers, and her favorite flavor of ice cream was chocolate. She hated fruits and vegetables and wished she could eat junk food for every meal. She was going to be a junior in the new school year at George Washington High School. That was my high school. She played on the softball team back in Amarillo, Texas and was planning to try out for the school's team once it started. Her father was going to be an English teacher there, too. She didn't talk about him too much but when she did, she didn't do it with a lot of enthusiasm. Her mom stayed at home, but was planning to be part of many social groups in Tulsa once her family was all settled down. She even admitted to me that she never had a proper boyfriend before. That was surprising, considering how pretty she was.

"So, tell me a bit about yourself. What makes Ponyboy Curtis an interesting individual?" She flashed me a smile. I blushed instantly, but quickly looked away before she could really notice.

"There isn't anythin' too exciting about me," I said, shoving my hands in my back pockets. What _could_ I say? It was true; I was never star of the football team like Darry, I didn't drop out of school to support my younger brother like Sodapop... I was just Ponyboy Curtis: boring old greaser.

But she wasn't taking it. "Come on, there has to be something. What do you do in your free time? Got any hobbies?"

"I like to read." Golly, I bet that made me sound real tuff.

"What's your favorite book?" She didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that a greaser actually liked to read.

"Gone With the Wind. I read it with Johnny last year when we were... uh..." Crap. I didn't want to tell Jamie about when Johnny killed Bob the soc and we both had to flee to Windrixville. The time we spent up there was rough for the both of us, and we vowed not to tell anyone ever. "There's the DX," I quickly said, changing the subject, and pointing across the street.

When we got there, Steve was filling a Corvair with gas and talking to some skirt who was leaning against it. She was trying to act all hot, flirting with Steve and all, but really she just looked like an idiot.

"Hey, Steve! Your mom called. She wants you to go home right after work so you can change her diaper!" I always got a kick out of bugging Steve. I was already his least favorite; getting on his nerves a little bit more than usual wouldn't hurt.

The girl giggled, keeping her eyes right on him the whole time. You could tell she wanted to take _him_ home. Many girls were like that with Steve. If it weren't for his girlfriend Evie, he would've gone all the way with at least half of them.

He gave me a piercing look. The girl quietly paid for the gas, slipping him her number at the same time. She then got in her Corvair and rode off. Damn Corvairs. Must've been a soc. Most of the time they stayed away from us greasers, for the plain fact that we were greasers, but sometimes a few of them slipped through the cracks, trying to mix in with our crowd.

"What do you want Pony?" Steve asked once she was gone. He sounded pretty frustrated, but then again that was sort of the usual tone he had with me.

"Just wanted to come see Soda. Got nothing better to do."

He nodded, and then started walking towards the little building where the actual store part of the DX was.

"Is he always so moody?" Jamie whispered to me.

I nodded, half smiling. "You'll get used to it if you hang around more often."

We followed Steve to the building. You could see Sodapop inside, standing behind the cash and talking to some girls. They were like damn fruit flies the way they hovered around him.

Steve started washing the windows of the building while he whistled some tune.

"Hey Steve, you remember Jamie right? You two met last night."

He stopped washing and turned his head to me, arm still in midair, giving me a dirty look.

"Sure. Forgetting about the young broad would be a crime," he said. He then went back to washing.

Jamie laughed a little under her breath. Maybe she didn't mind his attitude, but I didn't like him talking about her that way, especially when she was right next to us.

"Jamie ain't a broad, Steve. That girl you were talkin' to two minutes ago, that was a broad. By the way, you gonna call her up and take her out? You wouldn't do that to Evie now, would ya?"

"Ponyboy," he said sternly. "Ponyboy, weren't you here to see somebody? Scram!"

Jamie's POV

Pony and I walked in the DX just as a few other girls walked out. When we were right outside talking to Steve, I was watching them and how they interacted with Sodapop. If I wanted to get a boyfriend around here, I had to start taking notes.

"Hey kids," Sodapop said. He smiled warmly at me and winked. All I wanted to do was fall to the ground and curl into a ball and cry, he was that great.

"Hey Soda." Ponyboy picked a pack of cigarettes and put them on the counter. "For Two-Bit. You want anythin' Jamie?"

"No thanks, I'm good," I said, keeping my eyes on Soda. Could I be any more obvious?

"Sure you don't want a coke? I'll buy you one," Soda offered.

"Well, alright."

Ponyboy walked over to the little coke fridge and opened the door. "What kind do ya want? There's cherry, original..."

"Original."

Pony took two classic cokes out of the fridge, closed the door then put them on the counter.

"I'll put everything on my tab," Soda said as he rung all the items up. "Two-Bit can pay me back later, and you two just got free cokes." He grabbed a bottle opener from under the counter and opened both drinks. Pony put the cigarettes in his pocket then handed me one coke and took a sip from the other.

"Thanks Soda," I told him. My voice sounded a little too flirtatious. Oops.

He nodded, flashing me a sweet, toothy grin. "Anytime."

Ponyboy rolled his eyes and put his hand on my shoulder. "Let's go Jamie. Soda's got work to do."

"No, I'm free. If you guys want to-"

"See ya at home, Sodapop!" Ponyboy said as he took my hand and dragged me towards the door.

I laughed a bit, knowing what Pony was trying to do. "Bye Sodapop."

"Goodbye Jamie dear!"

And with that, Ponyboy and I left the DX.

* * *

Wow guys thanks so much for the reviews! I'm getting many ideas from them!

Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, I've been busy with school projects, but I'm gonna try writing more often during classes when I have nothing else to do :)

Thanks again for all the feedback!


	6. Travels

**All credit of 'The Outsiders' goes to S.E. Hinton.**

* * *

Darry's POV

"Uh... Darry?"

"Yes, Two-Bit?" I was just finishing up icing my chocolate cake in the kitchen. Usually I didn't ice it, but I felt like changing it up this time. Two-Bit was watching TV in the living room, Soda was working, and Pony had just left about half an hour before.

"There's someone here for you."

"I'll be there in a second, hold on."

I heard Two-Bit clear his throat. "I think you should come now."

After setting the knife down on the counter, I walked over to the living room. "I really gotta finish this cake so I can go get-"

I stopped in my tracks, my eyes immediately hitting this young girl standing in the entrance. Sherri Hughes, my high school sweetheart. I barely even recognized her; I hadn't seen her in only a little over two years yet she looked so different. Man, we were so happy together in high school. We were together from sophomore year until one week after graduation, when Sherri decided that she wanted to travel the world, visit all these different countries and stuff. I was planning to join her, but then mom and dad died, and I obviously couldn't leave Soda and Pony behind. Our breakup was messy; when I told her the reason I couldn't go with her, she did nothing but yell at me for abandoning her. She had no one to travel with (in the end she met this guy named Maurice, some French stud who was also on the move). That night was the last time I saw her.

So here Sherri was, standing there in a yellow sundress and white heels. She didn't need those shoes; she was always a few inches taller than all the other girls. Her hair was long, wavy and bleached blonde. Last time I saw her, she had shoulder-length brunette locks. But even with this new look, I could tell it was her right away just from her face, which was now the face of a twenty year old lady.

I stood in the middle of the living room, not too sure of what to do. The way she was standing in the entranceway, you could tell she was uncomfortable with the whole situation. But what was she even doing here?

Two-Bit grabbed his jacket from the couch and threw it on. "I guess I should get going. See ya later, Dare," he said quietly.

Sherri moved aside so that Two-Bit could get through the door. Neither of them said goodbye to each other, not even a little nod. Two-Bit never really liked Sherri, even before she decided to leave me. He said it was because he got "weird vibes" from her, but I really think he just didn't like her personality. She was calm, gentle and very mature for her age. She got the attention of many older guys, I can tell you that. She was very protective and could even be possessive. I think that's maybe what Two-Bit found irritating. She was also a soc; a soc that didn't mind being around greasers. That was pretty rare. She hated how everyone had to be split up into groups. She wished we all could just get along with one another, no more rumbles, no more 'greaser vs. soc'... we were all people, was her philosophy; some just had more money than others.

She would often tell me how her friends gave her crap for her being with me, but she was too much in love to care. We were planning to get married, but were soon awoken with the tragic fact that young love doesn't always work out.

Once Two-Bit was out the door, Sherri put her purse on the couch and sat down next to it.

"What are you doin' here?" Those were the first words that came out of my mouth, directed to the girl who had long ago won my teenage boy heart.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I miss you." I imagined her practicing saying those three words in front of a mirror, pretending that I was right in front of her. She had called me a few months back, and although she left a message for everyone to hear, she went on about how she couldn't stop thinking about me and wanted to get back together. Of course, I ignored it.

She reopened her eyes. "Why didn't you return my call?"

Of course she had to bring that up.

"I think it's better if you leave-"

"Darry! I called you because I needed you. I needed somebody and you were the first person who came to mind. I thought you would be there for me."

"_You_ needed somebody?" I was getting really furious. I walked right up to her. "Sherri, when my parents died, I needed _you_. But you were selfish and couldn't think about anyone but yourself! I needed support. You were my girlfriend, for Chrissake!"

"I had a dream! And you were going to join me, but then that got all screwed up! I had a right to be mad, Darrel! We were all ready to leave and then your parents died and I thought that my dream was crushed. Look, I'm sorry I wasn't supportive, and I admit I was selfish but... God dammit! I needed someone just like you did."

"My parents died, Sherri! How does that even measure up to your little dream of travelling the world? How!"

I took a few steps back, hoping that I made my point with her. It was funny how we had broken up over two years ago, yet I was still as angry as ever.

Neither of us said anything for a moment. I think we were both thinking of what to do or say, now that the yelling was over.

She took a cigarette out of her purse and lit up. "Maurice broke up with me when we were in Germany."

"Germany, huh?" I took a seat in the armchair, a little bit calmer. "How long ago was that?"

"May of last year."

"So you two lasted for a while."

"Longer than anyone had thought." She let out a little laugh then took a drag on her cigarette. I somehow managed to smile, also.

"How many countries have you visited so far?"

"Only about forty. It was going fast when it was Maurice and me, but now that it's mainly only myself, I'm gettin' around slower. That's why I wanted someone to join me. Someone I cared about."

I knew what she was doing: she was trying to make me feel guilty, guilty for being there for my brothers. But I ignored her intentions and changed the subject.

"How long you back for?"

She took another drag. "Three days. I'm leaving for Greece on Thursday. You remember Angela Knightly, right?"

"The real skinny one who always wore pigtails?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that's her. She's comin' with me. We're also gonna spend some time in Turkey."

"Well that sounds excitin' now, don't it?" My voice sounded a little bit more annoyed than I had intended. I was just a little bit disappointed in her bragging about her travels; I had always wanted to leave the country for a bit.

I got up off the armchair and walked over to the wall where a picture of young mom and dad hung. I looked over at it, at all the details from what mom was wearing to the beach landscape in the background. Sometimes I would just stand there, staring at it. I'd think about what they did that day at the beach. They were around my age in that picture, so about twenty years old. It must have been around the time that they first started dating.

I heard Sherri get off the couch and walk towards me. She put her hands on my shoulders and nestled her head on the side of my neck. "I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing. I'm still livin' with my folks. They moved to Stillwater. That's 'bout an hour away."

I wasn't sure what to do with Sherri, so I just let her keep herself there. To be honest, even though I was aggravated with this girl, her touch was sort of calming. "You drivin' there today?"

She slowly nodded. "I should be leaving now, actually. I told my parents I'd be there for lunch."

Sherri let go of me and I turned around. Our faces were close, and I definitely felt some tension. That was when she leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips.

"Thanks for lettin' me smoke. I know how you feel about cigarettes." She put her blonde hair behind her ears and smiled. I kept my eyes focused on her delicate features.

She then turned around, grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

"Sherri," I called out before she could leave. "Have fun in Greece for me, won't ya?"

Nodding, she put her purse over her shoulder. "Sure thing, hon."

* * *

I was wondering if I should try to squeeze in more than one POV per chapter? Tell me what you think!


	7. Cars

**All credit of 'The Outsiders' goes to S.E. Hinton.**

* * *

Sodapop's POV

When I got home from work, it was around 5:15. A whole hour later than usual. After much convincing, Dally agreed to give me a ride home. Of course, he never showed up. I called home from inside the DX, but for some odd reason there was no answer. Darry didn't work Sundays so it was a bit odd. He probably just went grocery shopping or something.

After waiting for over 40 minutes for Dally, I just decided to walk home myself. It was a bit of a long route, but what other choice did I have?

I was right around the corner when I heard Ponyboy laughing. Pony's laugh was so distinctive and always so damn loud. But it was special. Once I finally reached the house, he was wrestling on the front lawn with Darry. Johnny was there along with Miss Jamie Houston, who was cheering my brothers on with much dedication. I was wondering how she had found us, but not as much as I was contemplating why Darry's ex Sherri was sitting on the steps, watching all the action but not really seeming to pay any attention. Honestly, she looked bored to death.

I walked in the front yard through the gate, keeping my eyes on Sherri. She broke Darry's heart, completely abandoned him when she was truly needed. Sherri and I used to get along, before my parents died and she left my brother to selfishly travel the world. She would often pick me up from work when my car was broken down and Darry was busy doing something else. We'd then go out for ice cream or go play mini putt or something, just for the hell of it. Sherri was real nice when she wanted to be. Actually, she was real nice a lot of the time. That's why I was so surprised when she left.

Once he saw me out of the corner of his eye, Darry stopped fooling around with Pony and helped him up. I looked at him sternly; I knew he knew that I was pissed off. Darry and I didn't even need to talk, half the time. We understood each other's facial expressions almost perfectly.

"What the hell is she doin' here?"

Darry put his hands on his hips and opened his mouth to speak, but Sherri, still sitting on the steps, started saying, "Hey Soda."

I turned my head to her in one sharp movement. "Don't you 'Soda' me, Sherri Hughes. Aren't you supposed to be half way across the world or somethin'? Why you in Tulsa?" My voice was a little shaky. I was just nervous, wanting to know what she was doing there is all.

She stood up then fixed and flattened her yellow sundress. "I'm takin' a break for a little less than a week, if you must know. I thought I'd stop by, say hello, that's all. I'm really supposed to be in Stillwater with my folks right now."

"Then why are you here?" I asked.

"Her car broke down just as she was leavin', just a few hours ago. I was hopin' you could fix it," Darry said, walking over to a Ford Falcon. For a little broad, Sherri had a damn nice car.

I looked over to Jamie, Johnny and Pony who were all sort of leaning against the fence, watching everything going on. I then walked over to Johnny, who was smoking a cigarette, and took a drag. I handed it back to him, looking at Jamie. She appeared to be freaked out a bit; I don't think she knew much of what was going on. Her eyes were glued to me. Man, that girl could stare.

"Fine, I'll do it," I said, still looking at Jamie. She looked up, straight into my eyes. I quickly turned around and walked over to the car where Darry stood. I think that cigarette calmed me down a bit; I felt back to my old self.

I'd fix Sherri's car, but only because I wanted her out of our damn yard.

Jamie's POV

Darry and Ponyboy were wrestling on the front lawn, and after a moment of Johnny sort of cheering both of them on, I figured I might as well join in.

"They don't get along too hot a lot of the time, but when they do, they're always playin' around," Johnny told me at one point.

It was fun cheering Ponyboy on, while Johnny cheered for Darry, but after a bit it got old. I stopped and walked over to the fence, leaning on it. That was the moment Sodapop walked into the yard. He was staring at Sherri, Darry's ex who was sitting quietly on the front steps. She had already been there for an hour or two when Pony and I got back to his place. She was waiting for Soda to come so he could fix her car.

Soda walked in, glaring at Sherri with every step. She didn't notice his presence until Darry noticed did, about 30 seconds later. Darry and Ponyboy stood up. Pony brushed grass off his pants and his older brother took a few steps forward.

After walking around for a while, Pony and I headed back to his place. I just couldn't stand being around my father at that moment, plus I really wanted to meet Darry. Ponyboy only talked about him briefly but he seemed like an interesting person. I was always up to meeting interesting people.

Johnny came over and leaned on the fence with me. I wanted to know what was going on; all I knew was that Sherri just showed up, told Darry she missed him, and then threw a little fit when her car wouldn't start.

Soda seemed pretty angry, lashing some angry words at Sherri. Just as it seemed she was gonna stand up to Soda, Darry broke in, explaining the whole situation with her car.

Ponyboy came over and stood to my left, ever so closely. He looked out into the distance behind me. "I hate when stuff like this happens."

I wasn't sure if I should feel bad for him or just realize that all families have problems. My father was abusive and an occasional drunk; Ponyboy's parents died and he didn't quite get along with his older brother.

I put a hand on his upper arm and stared sympathetically in his eyes. All I wanted to do was to make him happy; he looked pretty hurt.

Just then, Sodapop slowly walked over to us three. My eyes suddenly went to him like a magnet. I couldn't help it anymore. He took a drag on the cigarette that Johnny lit about 30 seconds before, and his eyes met mine. There was something piercing about this look of his. This Sherri girl really knew how to turn a sweet, gentle boy like Soda into the mean guy he was now.

"Fine, I'll do it," Soda finally said. He then turned around and walked over to Sherri's car, which was pretty fine. Cars: they were one thing I actually enjoyed, believe it or not. I had this "secret friend" of mine (I call the people my father wouldn't let me see my "secret friends") who was great with cars. His parents owned a garage, and he'd often let me tinker around with old beat up cars before sending them to the scrap yard. He was one of the few boys I ever considered dating, coincidentally.

I turned around, now with the front of my body against the fence and my arms sitting on top of it. I looked around in front of me. The Curtis' lived in the poorer side of town, but the houses were still alright.

Johnny and Pony did the same as I.

"Man, what business did Sherri have comin' here anyway? She knows she ain't wanted," Ponyboy said.

"Probably wants to hook up with Darry again." Johnny threw his cigarette as far as he could onto the street in front of us.

"What's the story with her being here, anyway?"

I felt a hand placed on my shoulder the second I finished that sentence. I jumped and spun around.

"The story," Sherri said, retrieving her hand. "The story is none of your business."

* * *

Sorry I haven't updated in about a week! I was having major writer's block plus I've been pretty busy. I'm gonna try to get back to posting more often. Thanks for reading and please review! :)


	8. Cries

**All credit of 'The Outsiders' goes to S.E. Hinton.**

* * *

Ponyboy's POV

We were now in the living room, Jamie, Darry, and I. Two-Bit and Steve were at the kitchen table playing cards. We all went out to Dairy Queen for burgers, along with Soda who had left to meet his date right after. It only took him about ten minutes to fix Sherri's car; there was a little something wrong with the engine I think.

"A woman's body is her own body. She has the right to do whatever she wants with it!"

Jamie was arguing with Darry on abortion; she was pro-choice, he was pro-life. I would've joined in on the conversation but I wasn't exactly sure where I stood on the subject.

Darry shook his head in disagreement. He wasn't very conservative or anything, but he was definitely against abortion. "But she can put the baby up for adoption! She has many options other than killing it. It's just an easy way out."

"An easy way out?" Jamie half-laughed, sort of in a mocking way. "Are you kidding me? Do you think a woman, teenage girl or whichever Suzie Q about to get an abortion actually _wants_ it? Do you think _she_ thinks it's easy? My aunt got an abortion when she was fifteen. She was depressed for months. Do you think she wanted that?"

"Exactly, there are other options. An abortion shouldn't be the first thing that comes to mind. If she went through with the pregnancy and put it up for adoption, she wouldn't have had to go through a depression. Why was she sleeping around at that age anyway? And not even using protection?"

I glared at Darry. Who the hell did he think he was, talking to Jamie like that? I looked at her; her cheeks were getting red and her eyes full of tears. All I really wanted to do at that moment was beat up Darry. I really did. I would've if Jamie wasn't there. I was starting to really like her and didn't want her to get the wrong impression.

At the same time, I wanted to go sit next to Jamie, who was on the couch, and comfort her. She looked really upset.

"She was raped."

Darry looked real sorry then. I was sort of happy, honestly. I didn't like him judging Jamie's family.

"Oh," he said real quietly. And that's all that was said until about five minutes later. I felt that the reason for Jamie's crying was more than just the comment Darry made about her aunt.

"Look kid. I mean Jamie. I'm sorry. There's something you need to know about me before you hang out around here anymore, and that's that I often get so into arguments that I start to lose some of my sanity. I barely know you, and judging your aunt was definitely wrong of me to do. It's just-"

"God dammit, Darry. Just shut up." I hated when people made stupid excuses for their stupid mistakes. I got up from the floor and sat right next to Jamie. I put my right hand on her knee and the other arm around her back. I felt Darry staring at me, most certainly for what I just said to him. I didn't care. "Jamie, you okay?"

She lifted her head up from her hands and tried to catch her breath. I hadn't noticed but she was still crying pretty hard.

Darry got up from his armchair and walked into the kitchen where Steve and Two-Bit were, not knowing any of what was going on.

"Ignore Darry. He doesn't know nothin'. Got his foot up his ass most of the time."

She chuckled. Her crying had now subsided. "It's not Darry. It's not my aunt. I just... I was just thinking how lucky you are to live in such a loving home. Sodapop is so sweet to you. He really likes you. And Darry... Darry cares so much about you. I could tell that just by the way he treated you at dinner. He constantly shows it, and I don't think you realize. But I could tell in just these past few hours. And not only do you have two amazing brothers, you have the rest of the gang. I bet they'd die if they lost you."

I didn't know what to say. I knew Jamie was right; my brothers did care for me. If they didn't, Soda wouldn't have quit school so quickly, and Darry wouldn't work two jobs just to keep us going strong.

"Ponyboy, the reason I'm saying this isn't just to let you know how grateful you should be. Because I know you are. I just want you to notice that life isn't so bad. We've hardly known each other for a day, but I pick up on these things easily. I could tell you look at life with some negativity."

"Don't start gettin' all wise soundin' on me, Jamie," I said jokingly.

She smiled and looked to the floor.

"What about you? You haven't talked too much about your family since this morning." I honestly couldn't think of anything to say. I mean, I was happy that Jamie was trying to make me happy. I appreciated it. Maybe I should've told her that instead of digging deep into her own background.

She shook her head. "You don't want to know."

"Well, why not?" I said, shrugging my shoulders. "Is your family full of cannibals or something?" I hoped it wasn't too soon for a (bad) joke.

She smiled. "No."

"Then what is it? Come on, you can tell me. It's only fair. I told you half of my life story today."

Jamie's POV

I tucked some loose pieces of hair behind my ears. I wanted to tell Ponyboy about my family, but my lack of trust in people wouldn't let that happen so easily.

"The misfortune that is my family is something that I've never really shared with anyone before. I have way too much anger inside of me not to make my parents sound like complete lunatics."

"We're all just a bunch of lunatics. Every single person on this earth. It's the normal people you should be worryin' about." We both chuckled. "Talking about it might help take away some of that anger," Pony continued.

I nodded. He was right; talking about hard stuff did often make me feel better. The only thing was that those problems were never nearly as tough as this one.

"I don't know where to start."

Ponyboy moved over to the other end of the couch with his back against the arm and his legs sprawled out before him. "Start wherever you like. I'll be like your own little shrink."

I put my own back against the arm on my side of the couch and crossed my legs. "Well, my dad's a drunk. Except not really a drunk. I mean, usually he only drinks a few times a week. But then, when he has a really bad day at work for example, he drinks from the minute he comes home to the second he goes to bed. He'll have a glass of whiskey on his bedside table, just waiting for him when he wakes up."

Ponyboy kept a neutral face, which looked as if he was really paying attention to every word I was saying. I looked at him for a few seconds. I wasn't sure if I was waiting for some kind of reaction, but if I was, I certainly wasn't getting one.

"I can't... I can't go too much into details. About what he would do when he was drunk, I mean."

Ponyboy nodded. "That's alright."

"He would hit my mom. Slap her right across the face." I started going into details anyway. In a split second I decided I had to let it out while I could. Somehow I knew Pony wouldn't judge or tell anybody else. What was odd was that I knew this even after only being acquainted with him for a day.

"Did he ever hit you?"

I put my head in my hands, and cried. I cried twice in a time span of less than ten minutes. That was a record.

I felt Ponyboy put his hand on my leg. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that."

Then he kissed me on the top of my head.

* * *

I wrote most of this about a week ago, just finished it now and I'm too lazy to go over it and fix a few things so it might be a bit crappy but oh well lol. Sorry I'm so bad at updating regularly :P


	9. Eggs

**All credit of The Outsiders goes to S.E. Hinton.**

* * *

Ponyboy's POV

The next morning, I found myself waking up on the living room couch. The sun was shining through the large window at the front of the house; the bright light hit me right in the face and practically blinded me the second I opened my eyes from a deep sleep.

"Jesus Christ," I muttered, immediately shielding my face.

Then, suddenly, I felt a weight shift on top of the bottom half of my body. I uncovered my eyes and looked down at the person laying half on top of me, half on the floor.

Jamie. Her head was right on my crotch, and honestly I didn't know what to do. Was it there on purpose? Was she trying to tell me something? She seemed to be sleeping, and I didn't want to bother her, so I let her lay there for a couple of minutes.

I lied back down, my head on the little couch pillow, and tried to fall back asleep myself. I was guessing it was still pretty early since no one seemed to be up yet. Just as I was starting to doze off, I realized how awkward it would be if either Darry or Soda or anyone else came along and saw Jamie sleeping with her head on my crotch. So, I decided to wake her up. I also didn't want Darry to know she had slept over; even if nothing happened but us just sleeping on the same couch together. I didn't even know if he knew about this or not, but better safe than sorry right? I knew he would have a heart attack if he found out. The last thing Darry wanted was for me to actually _like_ a girl. That would take away attention from my studies!

I softly shook Jamie until she woke up.

"Ponyboy...?" I think that's what she said, though I'm not totally sure. Her voice was really hoarse.

"Did I really sleep over last night?" She spoke after clearing her throat, and let out a little laugh.

I nodded and sat up straight myself.

"Why the hell did I do something like that?" She chuckled a bit more and started fixing her hair, which was a mess. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that..."

"You were cryin' a lot last night. You kept sayin' that you didn't want to go home. After all that you told me about your dad, I figured you deserved a break from him."

"Right."

We sat in silence for a moment. I didn't really want Jamie to leave, but I didn't want any of the guys to catch her there so early either. They'd probably get ideas in their heads.

Jamie looked at me with a very faint smile. "Thanks for helping me last night. I felt so crazy for trusting you so quickly, but I also felt crazy for never sharing anything with anyone. You know what I mean? Anyway, thanks."

She then stood up and grabbed her sweater off of the armchair. "You want to me to go, I know."

I stood up quickly and shook my head. "What? No! I don't _want_ you to go. Jamie, you're-"

"Darry will probably wake up any minute. We can see each other later."

Before I could say anything more, she turned around and headed out the door. Right before she closed it, she poked her head back in. "Sorry for sleeping on your crotch, by the way."

Darry's POV

I woke up at around 8:30; a little later than usual. I wasn't one to sleep in. And I would've probably even slept later if I hadn't heard the front door slam close.

I got out of bed and threw my work pants on. Work was slow, and that day we only had two houses to roof which were both scheduled for later on in the afternoon. So I had the whole morning free.

As I went down the stairs, I heard someone shuffling around in the living room. It was no one other than Ponyboy, fixing the cushions on the couch.

"What's up Pony?"

He jumped and spun around. I must've frightened him.

"Uh, n-nothing Dare. Just fixin' up the couch."

I kept my gaze on him as I went outside to get a clean work shirt off the clothesline. Ponyboy looked nervous, and I couldn't figure out why.

When I came back in, he was in the kitchen about to make eggs on the stove.

"Why you up so early? It's only eight thirty, usually you sleep in much later," I said while I put some bread in the toaster.

He cracked an egg over the pan and threw the shells out all in one swift move. Ponyboy was always good in the kitchen.

When he still didn't answer me after a good 30 seconds, which is really a long time, I asked him again.

"I don't know, Darry. I just wanted to wake up early is all." He spoke very slowly. I could tell something was up.

"You sleep on the couch last night?"

He nodded. "Yessir."

"When did Jamie leave?"

"Would ya quit askin' me so many questions?"

"I just want to know when Jamie left. When I went to bed she was still there in the living room talkin' with you. Did she stay over?"

"Why would you ask me somethin' like that?"

"I ain't gonna start yellin' at ya if she did, Pony. I just think I have the right to know."

He shook his head. "Don't say you ain't gonna yell at me. We both know you will."

"So you're sayin' she _did_ sleep over?"

He shrugged.

"Dammit Ponyboy, all I wanna know is if she slept over or not! Don't be so difficult."

Pony picked the pan up from the stove once his eggs were done. They were scrambled, the only way he ever ate them since he was a little boy.

"Yeah, she slept over," he said very quietly as he moved them onto a separate plate.

"Are you kiddin' me? Ponyboy Curtis, I thought you were better than that. This is unacceptable!"

He threw the dirty pan in the sink and spun around. He tried to push me, but of course he was too weak and I barely moved an inch. "It ain't like anythin' went on, Darry! You wanna know what's unacceptable? You treatin' me like shit ever since mom and dad died! I didn't mind you acting like a father to me and Soda before, but now it's disgusting!"

I put my hand on his shoulder and tried to calm him down, but she shrugged me off instantly. "Come on now, Ponyboy. You don't mean that. I'm just tryin' to watch out for you."

He glared up at me, fear and pain in his eyes. "Really?"

Pony then stormed off to his room.

Sodapop's POV

I woke up to the sound of the slamming door, yet again. What was it with people slamming doors? Earlier that morning it was the front door, which was probably just the wind as usual, and now it was Ponyboy.

"I swear to God, I can't take it no more."

I sat up as Pony sat down on his side of the bed.

"What's it now?"

"Darry treatin' me like a little kid."

I let out a little chuckle. "Still ain't used to it?"

He put his head in his hands. "I really like Jamie. She's such a great person, you know?"

"Yeah, she seems pretty great."

"Last night she told me about her dad... he's a drunk. Damn, I probably shouldn't have told you that. But I just felt so bad for her. I didn't want her to go back there, Soda. Golly, her dad's probably beatin' her up right now for not comin' home last night."

I shifted over next to Pony and rubbed his shoulders. It was something that only I ever did to him to calm him down. I was pretty much the only person who could relax the little boy.

"I shouldn't have made her leave so quickly."

"You shouldn't feel so bad, Pone. It ain't your fault her dad's like that. You can't help it. You can't change anythin'."

"But I _want_ to help, Soda. If Sandy's dad beat her up when you were dating, wouldn't you wanna help her?"

He had a point. If Sandy's dad ever laid a finger on her when we were together, I really would've given him a piece of my mind. "When's the next time you're gonna see Jamie?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

I got out of bed and threw some clothes on; yes, I only sleep in my underwear. I then opened the blinds and turned to face Pony. He was staring miserably at the floor.

"Tell ya what. Me n' Steve are meetin' at the Dairy Queen in a half hour," I said, bending down in front of him. "You wanna come and have a milkshake or a burger or somethin'? I'll pay."

He shrugged again. "Darry probably won't let me outta the house. I don't think he wants me seein' Jamie anymore."

I laughed. "Why? Cause she slept next to you on the couch? Ponyboy, Darry was just as young and in love as you are when he was your age. He just forgot what it's like. So next time he yells at you about Jamie, or any other girl, just remind him of that."

"Hey, I don't _love_ Jamie."

"Okay, he was young and _was good with the girls_ when he was your age, just like you. Well, actually, you ain't that great with the girls at all." He playfully punched my arm. "Now you gonna come with me or not?"

He stood up and nodded with a smile. I ruffled his hair and we both headed out of our room.

* * *

Enjoy!


End file.
